Their meddling parents
by VerMa
Summary: A sequel of "The first investigation". When one of the kids gets kidnapped, the others go to the rescue. However, the intervention of their parents turns out to be necessary... Characters belong to Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros.
1. A kidnapping in Coolsville

**Hello everybody!**

**I couldn't wait even to the start of the exams (not to mention their end) and I wrote the first chapter of a new story... Well, it's quite normal for me. :D**

**I hope you've read "The first investigation". If not, better do it first, because this story is its sequel so there may be elements (not many, but still...) difficult to understand without reading the first part. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**Best wishes,**

**VerMa.**

* * *

One spring night, when the Coolsville citizens were long since asleep, a tall, thin man was creeping along dark backstreets. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit, a black balaclava and black boots, and over his shoulder, he carried a tied canvas sack which contained something small and oblong. Even a kid would instantly realize he was a shady guy.

Finally, the man came to a black car, standing under a lamppost on one of the main streets of the city. Then, he looked around to make sure no one followed him and quickly got into the vehicle, having put his bundle on the back seat.

"How was it?" a stubby, bald man, sitting behind the wheel asked.

"A piece of cake" the thin crook replied. "The boss will be happy. These two chumps left an open window in the living room. They must have thought no one would know they'd not have a new security system installed until the morning!"

"Fools!" the bald one cackled.

"Yeah! I wish I could see their faces when they realize the kid's gone! Hahaha!"

Soon, the car, taking away the deeply asleep child, unaware of the seriousness of the situation, vanished in the dark.

* * *

**PS – Who do you think got kidnapped? :)**

**VM**


	2. We need help!

**Hello, my friends!**

**Since I passed all my exams without much difficulty (three A's and one B+), I can finally enjoy my summer holidays and publish a new chapter of the story without feeling guilty. I hope you'll like it. :)**

**Special congratulations go to Robot Wolf 26Z who was 25% right, Book girl fan (50% right) and loonytunecrazy who was TOTALLY right! You rule, pals! :)**

**Regards,**

**VerMa.**

* * *

Daphne yawned, blinked and stretched... or at least that's what she'd wanted to do. The light was poor but after a few minutes of straining her eyes, the girl discovered that the thing so effective at making her unable to move was a thick rope. A moment later, she also realized it was due to a piece of cloth, curled in a ball and stuffed in her mouth, that she couldn't make any sound.

_"All right, let's stick to the facts"_ – she thought. – _"I'm in an unfamiliar, rather dark place, bound, gagged and dressed only in pajamas. This can mean only one thing: someone kidnapped me. But who? And why? As far as I know, Mom and Dad don't have enemies... Unless... unless one of the criminals unmasked by us ran away from the jail and seeks revenge... Oh, jeepers... I have a feeling we're going to be in even bigger trouble than when Red and Jeff created this mechanical spider..."_

x

Mornings in Coolsville had one characteristic trait – the traffic in the streets was minor or none. This very fact was currently being used by a dark-haired, mustached man, sitting behind the wheel of a not new (if someone was malicious, they'd rather say: ancient) but instead well kept, white car. The vehicle was moving pretty fast but within reason. Sure, the driver wanted to quickly fulfill the promise, made yesterday to a friend (and be able to get back home before lunch), but on the other hand, he knew that the excessive haste could cause an accident, which at best would mean a visit to the hospital – and a severe reprimand from his wife.

A few minutes later, from around a turn, emerged a huge mansion. Mr. Dinkley – for the early bird was him – with a slight surprise noticed that the gate was wide open; but then, he remembered that George and Liz were actually expecting his arrival. Thus, he pulled into the grounds and started up a long, impossibly twisty lane (the result of employing a party animal instead of a reliable planner) to finally stop almost perfectly in front of the entrance door, just behind a police car. Wait – a police car? This certainly didn't mean anything good.

"Hello! Anybody here?" the man called out, entering the long hall, the floor of which was covered with white and purple carpet.

The door to his right opened and there stood...

"Sam?" Mr. Dinkley asked in amazement.

"Greg?" Mr. Rogers's eyes widened. "Why did you come here?"

"To install a new security system; the old one apparently is broken. But what are YOU doing here?"

"Working; I'm investigating Daphne's disappearance..."

"More of a kidnapping" Mrs. Blake muttered, burying her face in her husband's chest. "None of her clothes are gone except for pajamas in which she went to sleep."

"This changes a lot" Samuel remarked. "Why haven't you said it from the start?"

"Because you never asked."

"Uh... okay... Do you two have any enemies?"

"I guess not" Mr. Blake said hesitantly.

"You guess?"

"Years ago, one of our employees tried to embezzle a large sum of money so we fired him..."

"I see. This means that the motive may be revenge."

"Unless it was done by someone else" Gregory cut in. "Then, the reason might be a ransom."

"You're right" Mr. Rogers admitted. "Anyway, I'll do everything I can to find the kid as soon as possible. Where is her room?"

"I'll show you" Elizabeth offered and they both left.

"George... I know Daphne's disappearance worries you, but could you, instead of standing around here, show me where is the control panel of your old security system?" Gregory spoke after a moment.

"Oh... Excuse me. This way."

x

Two hours later, into the mansion ran Mr. Jones and from the threshold he started to take pictures with a camera with a big, telescopic objective.

"What the heck, Skip, are you mad?" Mr. Blake asked angrily. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry, George, but my boss told me to bring photos from the crime scene. Did you think the media wouldn't know about the kidnapping of Daphne?"

"To be honest, I don't know what I thought. But I do know you're wasting your film. Daphne's room is elsewhere."

"Will you take me there?"

"I can't, even if I wanted to. Sam said NO ONE can go in there until he and his team search the entire room and find all the clues possible. And please tell your boss that as for now, Liz and I would prefer to not make the case known so the kidnappers wouldn't hurt Daphne."

x

Although the adults tried very hard to keep the kidnapping of Daphne a secret, her friends found it out the very next day – because of Shaggy who, as usual, came running with Scooby a minute before the first bell.

"Listen" he panted "Scooby and I, like, know why Daphne wasn't, like, at school yesterday."

"Then tell us" Fred encouraged him. "What's wrong with her? Is she sick?"

"No. She got, like, kidnapped" Shaggy replied.

"Ror ransom!" Scooby added.

"How do you know it?" Fred asked.

"Like, I heard my dad telling it to my mom..." said Shaggy. Having noticed Fred's skeptical look, he blushed slightly. "Okay, I was, like, eavesdropping at the door" he admitted. "Apparently, the kidnappers demanded the entire fortune of the Blakes and said that if they don't get the money, they'll, like, hurt Daphne."

"Jinkies, we must save her" Velma spoke.

"You're right" Fred agreed. "Let's meet in our clubhouse today after classes."

x

"Where are you going to, Velma?" Madelyn asked, seeing her elder sister went straight instead of turn left toward their house.

"To meet my friends" Velma replied briefly.

Madelyn grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes.

"Will Shaggy and Scooby be there, too?" she asked with excitement. "Will they? Tell me they will!"

"Of course they will. We're meeting by their house."

"Great!" Madelyn cheered. "Can I go with you? Will you take me? Please, please, please! Shaggy and Scooby are so cool!"

"But we'll be very busy. You'll be bored..."

"I won't be bored! I'll play with Maggie! She's cool, too! Let me come, please!"

"Oh... well, okay..." Velma agreed reluctantly.

"Thank you!" Madelyn squealed, hugging her tightly, then once again grabbed her hand and bounced off towards the Rogers' house, while chattering happily: "Shaggy and Scooby are so funny! And Maggie is so nice! I really, really like them! I'm so glad you're taking me to them, sis! You're darling, you know? Really, really, really darling! Almost as darling as Mom and Dad, but, of course, they're the best and the darlingest in the world and..." at this point, her big sister put a hand over her mouth. "Mmmm-mm-mmm...!" Madelyn muttered indignantly, pulling Velma's hand away from her face. "What?"

"First, there's no such word as 'darlingest'. Second, don't talk so much because either it will get you in trouble, or I'll go crazy in a moment" Velma said sternly.

"Can I ask you just one more question?" her little sister asked sweetly.

"Alright" Velma sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Do you like me?"

Before Velma could answer, something large, heavy and furry knocked her to the pavement.

"Rello, Relma" said Scooby and licked her face with his wet tongue several times. "Rello, Raddie" he added.

"Hello, Scooby" the two girls hugged the dog.

Having put her sister to her feet, Madelyn ran into the Rogers' front yard.

"Hi, Fred! Hi, Shaggy! Hi, Maggie!" she called out cheerfully.

Fred walked over to Velma and pulled her aside.

"Why didn't you tell us you'd bring Madelyn?" he asked in a low voice.

"Because I didn't know I'd do it" Velma explained in a whisper. "She wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed to take her."

"Hi, Maddie!" Maggie grinned. "Shaggy, what are you gonna do?" she asked, looking at her brother with the most innocent expression in the world.

"Homework" Shaggy replied, contrary to the truth, by the way. "It's very difficult so we asked Velma for help."

"Uh... boring..." Maggie waved her hand. "Come on, Maddie, we'll play with my dolls."

Once the two younger girls had disappeared in the house, Fred said:

"Now, everyone to the clubhouse. We must come up with a plan."

x

"You know" Madelyn spoke when she and Maggie had entered the house "maybe it's weird, but I don't believe they're just doing their homework there."

"To be honest, me neither. Last night, before falling asleep, I heard Shaggy telling Scooby that Daphne had been kidnapped for ransom."

"You know, I think they're actually making a plan on how to find and free Daphne."

"I think so, too, but we must make sure."

"How will we do it?"

"Wait, let me think... Can you climb trees?"

"Yes. My dad taught me... but in secret from my mom, because she says that one tomboy in the family, I mean Velma, is enough for her..."

"Yes, I understand. Come on, we'll overhear what they are saying."

"Isn't it illegal?"

"I don't know but think of it as of playing detectives."

x

"Right, everything set" Fred said happily. "We're meeting at midnight in front of my house."

"Did you hear that?" Maggie whispered. "We were right."

"Yeah. I wonder why they kept it a secret from us."

"I have no idea but they can't get away with it."

"I think I know what we'll do" Madelyn smiled slyly. "Listen..."

x

This night, when Mrs. Rogers was long since asleep, and her husband was at work making the action plan with his team, Maggie showed up in Shaggy's room and said she was going to accompany him during the investigation.

"Like, no way, get it out of your head" Shaggy said firmly. "You're, like, too young."

"I'm not" the girl protested. "When you and your friends began solving mysteries, you were as old as I am now, and Velma was Madelyn's age."

"Did you forget that after our first case, she spent more than a month in hospital, because Red Herring had almost, like, killed her?"

"No, but..."

"Then, like, stay home. I don't want, like, the same or, like, worse thing to, like, happen to you."

"Look, I want to go with you and Scooby and help you find Daphne. And if you say 'no' one more time, I'll start screaming and Mom will catch you, and you'll go nowhere."

"Oh, zoinks" Shaggy muttered "seems I've got, like, no choice... Alright, you can come with us but on the condition that you'll, like, obey me."

x

Velma poked her head out of her room, looked around, soundlessly slipped out into the corridor and began sneaking towards the stairs, trying to not make noise. Then, somewhere behind her, there was a creak of a floor board. The girl, feeling her heart pounding wildly, looked back.

"Maddie!" she whispered with a mixture of relief that it wasn't Dad, anger that her sister followed her, and surprise that the kid was in her normal clothes instead of pajamas. "What are you doing?"

"Going with you" Madelyn announced happily. "You promised that one day you'd take me along and show me how you solve mysteries, remember?"

"I guess I also talk too much sometimes..." Velma muttered grimly. "You're not going anywhere" she added sternly. "You still are too young. Go back to bed. Looking for clues is dangerous, especially at night."

"So why do YOU want to do it?"

"Because Daphne is my friend and would have done the same for me."

"What should I tell Mom and Dad if in the morning they notice that you're gone?"

"They won't" Velma said firmly. "I'll be back by the morning."

"Then why don't you want to take me with you if our parents won't even know that we left?" Madelyn asked in a small, painful voice and sniffled.

At this point, her big sister realized she'd lost the battle.

"Alright" she muttered reluctantly "you can go with me..."

"Thanks!" Maddie squealed, clinging to Velma, who took the opportunity to put a hand over her mouth.

"Don't make so much noise" she scolded her in a whisper. "We can't wake Dad up. Now come on but be quiet" she added, taking her sister by the hand and leading her down the stairs. "And remember that you have to stick close to me all the time. No exceptions."

x

Upon seeing Velma and Shaggy, leading their sisters, Fred grabbed his head.

"Why did you take them along?" he asked in an angry whisper.

"I had no choice" Velma replied defensively. "I had to take Maddie so she wouldn't start crying and wake Dad up."

"And Maggie threatened that if I, like, didn't take her, she'd tell mom that Scooby and I aren't, like, home" Shaggy added grimly.

Maggie and Madelyn winked at each other knowingly.

"All right, they can come with us" Fred sighed "but keep an eye on them."

"Don't worry about it" Shaggy and Velma said simultaneously, grasping their sisters' hands a little tighter.

"So where are we going to?" the little Madelyn asked merrily.

"According to the map which Shaggy and Scooby snatched, Daphne should be in the Matthews' abandoned mansion" Fred replied.

"It's a long way from here" Maggie pointed out. "How are we gonna get there?"

Fred pointed to three bikes standing nearby; one of them had a small cart attached to the back.

"But... there's six of us" Madelyn worried. "How are we gonna get there on three bikes?"

"Scooby will go in the cart, you with Velma, and Maggie with Fred" Shaggy explained.

"Can we get moving?" Fred demanded impatiently. "We can't stand here till the morning."

"That's right" Velma added. "Daphne needs our help."

x

About half an hour later the whole gang (minus Daphne, of course) stood in front of a large, dark, old house.

"Follow me, guys" said Fred. "All right, let's split up" he added in a whisper, once they'd come inside. "Shaggy, Scooby and Maggie will go to the right; and Velma, Madelyn and I to the left. Any questions?"

"Why are we splitting up?" Maddie spoke.

"To find Daphne quicker."

"And how will we know who found her?"

"I hadn't thought about it" the embarrassed Fred admitted.

"Why am I, like, not surprised?" Shaggy muttered.

"I have an idea" Maggie pulled two whistles out of her pocket and handed one to Fred. "Two signals will mean 'Daphne' and three 'we need help', okay?"

"Okay. Now let's get to work."

x

"What are we doing now?" Madelyn asked.

"Sneaking" Fred explained in a whisper.

"Why?"

"So the thugs who kidnapped Daphne wouldn't know we're here."

"What would happen if they found out?"

"Certainly nothing good."

"Be quiet, Maddie" Velma sternly looked at her sister.

"Oh, come on, I just want to learn something."

"But you make too much noise on the occasion. We'll get in trouble because of your constant chattering, you'll see."

"You know, it's weird" Madelyn remarked, not without a trace of malice in her voice. "You spend lots of time with Dad but you're as hopelessly serious as Mom..."

"Stop talking finally or I'll gag you" Velma threatened.

"You won't" her sister said dismissively. "You've got nothing to do it with."

Velma just smiled condescendingly and asked Fred:

"Can I borrow your ascot?"

"Maybe later" Fred said, turning left. "For now, we must..." at this point, he saw a tall, skinny thug with a big scar on his left cheek. "... RUN!" he yelled, taking off down the same corridor they'd come.

"Hurry up, Maddie!" Velma screamed, rushing after Fred and pulling her sister with her.

"Hey, let go of me! I'm not three years old!" the annoyed Madelyn jerked her hand out of Velma's grasp, then stumbled, lost her balance and fell to the floor.

"Are you okay?" her sister asked, leaning over her.

"Yes, but I lost my glasses."

"I'll find them right away; they couldn't have fallen far... see what I mean? Here you go."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now come on, we must run."

Just as Velma said these words, up to the girls ran two men – one tall and thin, the other short and fat.

"Now what?" the scared Madelyn asked.

"Run!" Velma slipped between the thugs, pulling her sister with her. "MADDIE!" she cried out in horror when a great force separated their hands.

"VELMA!" Madelyn wailed, uselessly trying to get out of the hands of the short bandit; meanwhile, his accomplice grabbed and immobilized the older of the girls.

"Hide her somewhere" the thin guy ordered briefly. "I'll see you later."

His companion nodded and the men went in different directions, ignoring the desperate screams of the two sisters which effectively drowned out a triple whistle signal.

x

"Are you, like, sure we're going the right way?" Shaggy asked.

"Reah" Scooby nodded. "Rit's rot rar row." (_Tr.: Yeah. It's not far now._)

"That's great!" Shaggy rubbed his hands in glee. "I have a hunch there's plenty of food waiting for us!"

"What?!" Maggie exclaimed in shock. "We're supposed to look for Daphne, not food!"

"Relax, sis, Fred and the girls can, like, do it" said Shaggy and waved his hand.

Maggie looked unconvinced.

"It's not fair" she stated grumpily. "They're taking a risk, while we..."

"We're taking a risk, too" Shaggy cut her off. "We're taking a risk from the moment when we'd walked into this spooky, old house."

Suddenly, there were shouts and three whistle sounds.

"_Fred and the girls can do it_, huh?" Maggie looked at her brother with a frown.

"Okay, maybe I was, like, wrong but that's, like, no reason to give up a little calm-down snack..."

"A little snack? I know you too well... Norville. Enough of the slacking, I'm the boss now. Scooby, lead us to Daphne."

The puppy did a sort of salute with his paw and sniffed the air; having caught the scent, he turned right and headed toward the stairs leading to upper floors. However, two thugs soon stood in the way of the trio.

"GANGWAY!" Shaggy yelled and ran away.

Scooby and Maggie, who this time wasn't going to argue, did the same. After a while, however, one of the criminals caught up with the girl and grabbed her.

"Let me go!" she screamed, kicking his legs.

The bandit didn't give up, even though Scooby bit his calf, and Shaggy punched his side several times; for soon came running two other thugs, one of whom held back the puppy and the other caught the boy. Then, the men split up without a word.

x

The gangster carried Scooby to the attic, threw him into a storage unit and left, locking the door. Having landed on a dusty, old couch, the puppy sneezed loudly.

"Bless you, Scooby" said a familiar voice. "Ah... ah... achoo!"

"Ress rou, Reddy" the dog replied, putting his tail under his nose to not sneeze again. (_Tr.: Bless you, Freddy._)

x

"Mom and Dad will most probably kill me! Why did I ever take Maddie with me?" Velma cried out in despair and strongly kicked a bucket lying on the floor.

"But you said you'd had to do it to prevent her from crying" Maggie remarked.

"That's not what I mean! I shouldn't have taken her to your place after classes! I don't know how she found out this all but it must have happened there!"

Maggie got an uncomfortable look on her face and stared at her shoes.

"You know... it's probably my fault because it was me who'd gotten the idea to overhear your conversation" she said softly.

x

Not only the cell under the stairs was very small but Shaggy was also locked in it along with the terrified Madelyn, clinging to his side and weeping into his shirt. Frankly, he'd give a lot to calm her down somehow because her sobs were already beginning to get on his nerves. Wait – what Velma would do? Hmmm... normally, she'd undoubtedly first told her sister to be quiet and then begin to comfort her; but in this case, she probably wouldn't know herself what to say... so maybe she'd just hug the kid? The boy carefully put his arm around the girl and pressed her to him; and indeed, her crying soon stopped.

"Don't be afraid" he said when she looked up at him "my dad and his pals will certainly find us."

* * *

**PS - As always, I am waiting for the feedback! :)**

**VM**


	3. The parents get involved

**Hello, buddies!**

**Were you missing me? ^_^ My Muse has recently come back from a long vacation so it's only now that I can publish the third chapter of this story. I hope you'll like it.**

**Regards,**

**VerMa.**

* * *

Just like after each night shift, Mrs. Dinkley tiptoed into the house and closed the door as quietly as she could – for she wanted to get some sleep BEFORE her daughters got up and started making the morning hubbub – then, she took off her coat and hung it on a peg, noting by the way that the girls' jackets had disappeared. But before she could think about it, she felt a piercing cold. It turned out that the cause of this was a wide open kitchen window. The woman shuddered once more, this time not from the cold but from fear; only two days earlier, due to an open window, the little Daphne Blake had been kidnapped. If now the same thing had happened to Velma and Maddie...

Wasting no time, Alice ran upstairs. In Velma's room, she found only the pajamas, folded into a square and lying on the awkwardly made, cold bed; in Madelyn's room was the same, except that the pajamas looked more like a ball. No trace of the girls. Trying to keep calm, Mrs. Dinkley searched through the entire house – including the usually locked attic – but didn't find her daughters anywhere. Therefore, she ran to her marital bedroom and with all her strength shook her husband's shoulder.

"Greg, wake up!" she called. "Do you hear me? Greg!"

"Sweetheart, have mercy... it's Saturday..." Gregory groaned. "What's going on?"

"The girls are gone."

Having heard this, the man immediately woke up.

"What?" he cried out, looking at his wife with wide open, frightened eyes.

The woman quickly told him about her findings.

"Given this all, we can most probably rule out the kidnapping" Mr. Dinkley remarked, hugging his trembling wife. "I'll look for them, and you get some sleep in the meantime..."

"It won't work, dear. I won't be able to sleep without knowing where the girls are."

"Then call the Joneses and the Rogerses. I have a theory."

x

The piercing sound of the phone woke Mrs. Rogers up. The woman looked at the alarm clock, standing nearby, and groaned, half in despair, half in exasperation. It was a quarter past six. However, having to choose between answering the call and the risk of waking up the children, she chose the first option; soon after, she picked up the receiver and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" she murmured sleepily. "Alice? Do you know what time it is...? In their beds, where else could they be...? Of course I'm sure; last night, I put them to sleep myself... Alright, alright, if you insist, I'll check it and call you back... Bye" with that said, Jessica hung up. "I must be still dreaming" she mumbled, walking to her son's room. "Why would Alice call at daybreak and ask me if I knew where were my children? It's totally not like her... Besides, Shaggy is..." at this point, she opened the door and saw the boy's green pajamas, lying among the scattered sheets "... gone!" she finished with horror in her voice.

Just like Mrs. Dinkley had done before, Mrs. Rogers was now checking all the possible hideouts of her children, including the pantry and Scooby's doghouse (empty, by the way); she didn't look only into the tree house – she was afraid of heights. Shaggy, Scooby and Maggie were nowhere. Therefore, the woman returned to the house and dialed the Dinkleys' number.

"Hello, Alice?" she said worried. "You must be a clairvoyant... I looked for them everywhere and didn't find them... Yes, the pajamas are on the beds and the jackets are gone; how did you know...? What? Velma and Madelyn also vanished? Is it the Bermuda Triangle? First, Daphne, now your girls, my kids and Scooby... wait, what about Freddy Jones...? Gone, too...? Listen, I have an idea: let's all meet in our house; I'll let Sam know and you tell Peggy and Skip, okay...? Alright, in that case we're meeting in half an hour."

x

In the Blakes' residence, the phone rang. George and Elizabeth hesitantly looked first at each other, then at the two policemen sitting at the eavesdropping machine.

"Do answer it" said one of the officers, small and black-haired.

Mr. Blake picked up the receiver and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said in a shaky voice.

"Relax, George, it's me" came the voice of Mr. Rogers. "Our technicians succeeded to track down the kidnappers. They're hiding in the Matthews' manor. Take Liz and go there with Jimmy and Bob."

"Say what?" the small policeman cut in. "We don't take civilians along on such missions!"

"Think logically, Bob" Mr. Rogers sighed. "The kid will certainly be scared, so it will be best to give her back to her parents straightaway."

"Alright, if you want to take the risk, then come here and drive them there yourself" the sulking Bob replied.

"I can't. My wife told me to come home; she said it was an emergency. I'll meet you there in an hour. Bye" after that, Mr. Rogers hung up.

x

"First of all, let's set the facts" Mr. Rogers said, circling around the living room with his hands clasped behind. "Number one: two days after the kidnapping of Daphne, five other children and a puppy disappear."

"Number two: the pajamas remain at home but the jackets disappear" Mr. Dinkley added.

"This means that they have gone out of their own will" said Mr. Jones.

"Moreover, all the six of them are friends with Daphne" Mrs. Dinkley spoke "and THIS means that most probably they'd sneaked out in the night to find and free her."

"There's only one more question" Mrs. Jones remarked. "How could they learn about the kidnapping since the press was silent on this issue?"

For a moment, there was silence.

"Oh, damn..." Mr. Rogers muttered finally. "Jessie, you remember when I told you about the progress of the investigation?"

"Yes, why? Do you think...?"

"Yes. Our children could have overheard it."

"Listen, what if there's no need for us to be worried sick?" Mr. Jones said suddenly. "What if the kids wanted to pull a joke on us and are in their tree house now?"

"Quite unlikely but checking can't hurt" Mrs. Rogers shrugged slightly. "But I want to make it clear that I'm NOT going up there. I'm afraid of heights."

"I'll go" Mr. Dinkley offered.

The tree house was empty. The only strange thing was that Mr. Dinkley had been there for over five minutes.

"What are you doing in there so long?" his wife screamed at last.

"I've found something interesting!" the man leaned out a window, holding a package in his hands. "Stand back, everyone!" he added and dropped the package to the ground.

It turned out that the interesting thing was a cardboard folder on which someone had calligraphed the words: _The files of the cases of the Scooby Doo Detective Agency_.

"A detective agency?" the adults looked at one another in disbelief.

"There's also this" Mr. Dinkley added, swiftly climbing down the tree and waving a card.

"This looks like a map" Mr. Jones commented.

"Because it IS a map" Mr. Rogers explained "or, to be exact: a copy of our tactical map. This means that Norville" he added angrily, dragging the 'r' "must have had hand in it."

"Well, since our children had teamed up to find Daphne, how about we do the same thing and look for them together?" Mrs. Jones suggested.

"Alright" everybody else replied one by one.

The only exception was Mr. Rogers who, with a rather silly face, was scratching the back of his neck.

"Officially, we shouldn't get involved" he said. "As for me, it's because my children are among the missing ones, and you... well..."

"We're civilians" Mr. Jones finished. "Is that what you meant?"

"Yes. Lieutenant Swift wasn't delighted when I'd suggested the Blakes should wait for their kid in a patrol car; I prefer not to think about how he'd react to five more civilians..."

"He doesn't have to know" his wife smiled sweetly and fluttered her lashes. "Please say yes, dear, it's our children that it's about."

x

Fifteen minutes later, in front of the Matthews' manor:

"Hey, Bob" Mr. Rogers said. "How are the things going?"

"Hey, Sam. Frankly, it's not well. We came to a door with an awfully weird lock, and the technicians have no idea on how to open it."

"Have you tried blowing up the door?"

"Impossible. That could make the whole ruin collapse. We need a different plan."

"I think I've got it" Samuel snapped his fingers. "A friend of mine is an engineer; maybe he'll manage to crack the lock."

"Let me guess: he's a civilian?"

"Yes."

"The boss will be mad."

"I know... but do you have a better idea?"

"No" Bob admitted. "So where's the guy?"

x

"That leaves only four of us, including three women. Wonderful" Skip muttered grimly when Samuel and Gregory had disappeared behind a corner of the building.

"Are you saying that women are worse?" Peggy asked pugnaciously, placing her hands on her hips.

"Never, honey!" her husband replied, a bit scared of the look on her face. "I just wouldn't want something bad happen to you or Jessie, or Alice..."

"For goodness' sake, Skip! We're not kids!" the annoyed Jessica screamed.

"Now, now, keep calm" said Alice. "We're adults so let's ACT like adults and not fight about minor things because that's the last thing we need."

"I agree" came a man's voice. A moment later, from around the corner emerged the redheaded Mr. and Mrs. Blake.

"What are you doing here?" Jessica was surprised. "You were supposed to wait for Daphne in a patrol car."

"That was the plan" Elizabeth admitted "but Greg told us that your children had gotten in trouble, trying to rescue Daphne..."

"So we decided to help you" George finished.

"Given the size of the building and safety reasons, I suggest to split up into two groups of three people" Alice spoke. "Liz, George and I will check the second floor and the attic, while you three will start on the first floor and go down from there, okay?"

Before anyone could say anything, barking could be heard. The adults looked up and, in a window right under the roof, they saw a child with short, blond hair and a brown dog.

"It's Fred and Scooby!" Peggy called out.

"Sorry, Alice, the plan has changed. WE are going upstairs, while you're going downstairs" said Skip, then grabbed Peggy's hand and Jessica's wrist and pulled them with him.

x

"Oh, no, no way, you won't make me go upstairs" Jessica crossed her arms and put forward her lower lip. "I'll bet whatever you want that these old stairs are rotten and will crumble under our weight..."

"We'll be going one by one" Skip decided.

"I don't care. I'm not going in there."

"You've said you're not a kid so don't whine and come on."

"I said NO!"

"Leave it, dear" spoke Peggy. "She's made up her mind; there's no way you can convince her."

"But if something happens to her, Sam will kill me..."

"Don't exaggerate; it won't take us much time. Now, come on."

In the silence after Peggy and Skip had left, Jessica heard pounding. Her heart froze for a second, even though usually, it wasn't easy to scare her.

"Who's there?" she asked hesitantly.

"Help us!" a thin, childish voice squeaked. „We're locked here!"

"Where?" the woman looked around helplessly. Nearby were several doors. How could she know which one was right?

"Over here" spoke another voice, undoubtedly belonging to a slightly older child; after a moment, there was pounding again.

"Is it you who make this noise?" Mrs. Rogers made sure.

"Yes" the younger child confirmed.

Soon, Jessica found out that the knocking was coming from the cell under the stairs which led to the attic. The door was blocked with metal bar and – as if it weren't enough – locked.

"Cover your faces!" Mrs. Rogers took the rod into her hands and broke the door with a few powerful hits. "Norville!" she cried out upon seeing the characteristic, unkempt, light brown hair.

"Mom!" the boy threw himself on her neck.

"Thank God, you're okay" Jessica hugged her son. "You'll have to explain a lot to Dad and me... Where's Maggie?"

"No idea. These bandits separated us."

"So who was locked with you?"

"Me, madam" said the thin voice. The woman looked down and saw the little Madelyn. "I'm cold and I'm hungry" the girl complained. "I want to go home, to Mom."

From somewhere nearby, came sounds of footsteps.

"It must be these thugs!" the scared Shaggy cried, hiding behind his mother's back.

"No thugs, my boy" said Mr. Jones, going down the last step and leaning against the post, ending the railing. "It's only the Jones family plus Scooby."

"Scooby!" Shaggy ran up to his pet and hugged him tightly; in return, he received a wet doggy kiss.

x

Meanwhile, Mrs. Dinkley and the Blakes were searching all nooks and crannies of the great library, located on the first floor.

"Let's get out of here" Elizabeth asked. "Seeing so much dust makes me sick."

"Cobwebs are worse" Alice muttered. "We've been lucky to have not stumbled upon any spider yet..."

"Relax, ladies" said George. "This is the last aisle... empty, let me add. Okay, we're leaving."

A few minutes later, much to their surprise, they found that the door wouldn't open, no matter what they tried.

"It's a trap! We're trapped in a large, dusty, deserted library of a huge, old, crumbling, abandoned house! We're doomed!" Elizabeth lamented, clinging to her husband.

"Don't get hysterical" Alice commanded shortly. "Maybe there is a second exit here; we just have to look for it."

"Where?! There's nothing in here, apart from a lot of bookcases and a few books!"

"Exactly. I know it's_ cliché _but maybe one of them will open a secret passage."

x

"Done" Mr. Dinkley announced when something clicked in the lock, and the door opened slightly.

"Great job" Mr. Rogers patted his shoulder.

"In we go, gentlemen" Lieutenant Swift opened the door with a single strong shove.

The cops burst in, shouting things like 'surrender' and 'hands up', but – alas! – it turned out that the criminals had managed to run away, leaving only the little Daphne, gagged and tied to a chair.

"Holy... heavens!" the lieutenant barely managed to keep himself from cursing, which would be inappropriate for the child's ears. "Rogers, take care of the civilians! The rest split up and search the building and the grounds! Hurry!"

A few seconds later, the room was empty, except for Messrs. Rogers and Dinkley who quickly freed the girl.

"Take her to a patrol car" said Mr. Rogers. "I'll go and look for the Blakes."

x

Mr. Jones quietly walked down the hall, leading his group to the exit. Suddenly, right after taking a turn, he found himself face to face with five thugs. Granted, he didn't see any of them having any weapons but nevertheless, he got scared.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" spoke one of the criminals. "Seems that some adults are even more meddling than those kids."

"Get out, you scoundrels" Mrs. Rogers said firmly, taking a few steps forward and standing shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Jones. "I'm giving you a good advice, get out or you'll be very sorry for messing with us."

The bandits exchanged glances and laughed.

"Alright, you asked for it" the woman shrugged and jumped in between them like a tigress.

What happened next dumbfounded the kids, Scooby, Mr. and Mrs. Jones... and the bandits. Mrs. Rogers, thin and seemingly fragile, with a few precise punches knocked down all the thugs; it didn't take her more than half a minute, plus she wasn't even a bit out of breath.

"I said you'd regret it, you morons" she said, smirking. "And you, why do you have such silly faces?" she asked, noticing the disbelieving looks of the rest of her group. "Did you think that a policeman's wife wouldn't know a few self-defense tricks? Now, stop just standing around. Help me tie them up so they won't cause trouble again and then, let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place."

x

"Mr. Dinkley, sir..." Daphne's timid voice broke the silence, prevailing in the police car for a few minutes.

"Yes?" Mr. Dinkley, previously lost in his thoughts, shook his head slightly.

"Why Mr. Rogers isn't back with my parents yet?"

"Perhaps he's still looking for them."

"How can it be? It would be enough to call to find out whether they are at home or in the office."

"In theory yes, but your parents are neither at home, nor at work, but somewhere in this old mansion."

"Why?"

"They're helping my wife, the Joneses and Mrs. Rogers find our children... I mean your friends."

"So they'd been kidnapped, too?" Daphne panicked.

"I think not. Most probably, they'd just wanted to free you from the hands of kidnappers on their own and gotten themselves into trouble while doing so."

"It must have been Fred's idea" the girl muttered. "I'll teach him a lesson..."

"I doubt it" the man said calmly. "You have common secrets that he could tell in an act of revenge."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Then why did you turn red so suddenly?"

"Because..." Daphne paused, searching for a good excuse.

"Because, in fact, you know I'm right. We've discovered the files of your detective agency."

"Oh, jeepers..." the girl bit her lip. "So this isn't the end of our trouble?"

"Absolutely not."

Daphne didn't know how to respond to that, so there was silence again. However, they soon heard the steps of several people.

"Is that those bandits?" the scared girl grabbed the man's hand.

Mr. Dinkley looked out the window.

"No" he replied briefly and got out of the car.

Shortly after, Madelyn ran into his open arms, shouting 'DAD!'. Still, Daphne didn't dare to leave the inside of the vehicle until she saw that the kid was accompanied not by criminals but by the Joneses, Mrs. Rogers, Scooby and the boys.

"Raphne!" the dog barked happily, jumping on the girl's shoulders and licking her cheek.

Fred and Shaggy quickly pulled him to the ground and tightly embraced their regained friend.

"We were so, like, worried about you" said Shaggy.

"And that's why you decided to save me yourselves? Whose idea was it anyway?"

"Relma's" Scooby answered.

"What?"

"She was the first to mention saving you" Fred explained "but it was me who made the plan" he added proudly.

"Figures" Daphne muttered.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dinkley had other worries.

"Where's Allie? Why did you let her go alone?" he asked, stroking the long, dark hair of Madelyn, who still was clinging to his side.

"I don't know where she is" said Mr. Jones "but she definitely isn't alone. George and Liz had volunteered to help us, so we split up into two groups..."

"The problem is that Sam went to find the Blakes and soon will bring them here, to Daphne."

"Alice certainly will come with them" said Mrs. Jones.

"What if she gets lost or, God forbid, already has gotten lost?"

"Don't panic, man" Mrs. Rogers commanded. "She's mature, reasonable and smart. She'll be fine."

"Whatever. I'm not going to stand here doing nothing, especially since Velma also is still in there."

"So is Maggie" said Mrs. Rogers "but do I panic? No. And why not? Because I'm sure that Sam or one of his pals will find her."

"Say whatever you want. I've already made up my mind. I'll go there and save the rest of my girls."

"I'm with you" Mr. Jones spoke.

"What about me?" Madelyn, until then only listening to the adults' dialogue, asked.

"You'll stay here with Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Rogers and your friends. Don't worry; I soon will be back with Mom and Velma. Skip, let's go."

* * *

**PS - As usual, I ask you for feedback! :D**

**VM**


	4. Till death do us part

**Hello, readers! :)**

**This is the penultimate meeting with the meddling parents ****of the future ****Mystery Inc. I worked pretty hard when writing it, but I think it paid off. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**VerMa**

* * *

Despite a long and meticulous search, neither Mrs. Dinkley, nor the Blakes managed to find a movable bookcase.

"Of course. It was predictable" the frustrated Alice muttered. "Secret passages, opened by books, work only in the movies."

"We sure will get out eventually" George consoled her. "Granted, I don't yet know how but..."

"Maybe this way, darling?" Elizabeth spoke, pointing to a small wooden door.

"You're great" said her husband and kissed her cheek.

"It's a shame that this door is locked, too" Mrs. Dinkley sighed, vainly trying to turn the knob.

"I think I know how to solve this problem. Do stand back, ladies" Mr. Blake took a shelf out of a nearby bookcase and several times used it as a battering ram on the door, which eventually gave way. "_Voilà_, we can go now" he added with pride.

"Great. So which way do we go?" Mrs. Blake cautiously stepped out and warily looked both ways.

"Left" her husband decided.

"Wait a minute" Mrs. Dinkley grabbed his sleeve. "The main door of the library is on our left, and when we walked this corridor earlier, it was on the right. If we go left, we'll be going back."

"All right, then right face and forward march."

"George, my dear, control yourself; we're not in the army" the annoyed Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

A few turns later, with George collided a curly-haired blond man, into whom then bumped two strappers who'd been running behind him.

"Garver!" the Blakes cried in unison when the blond man looked up.

"It's you!" he screamed. "Now I finally will get you back for the past! Chuck, Neil, seize them!"

"Run!" Mrs. Dinkley grabbed the Blakes by the wrists and pulled them strongly.

However, it soon became clear that the criminals knew the building much better than they did – plus, they were more rested.

"We must split up or we'll never lose them!" George gasped, glancing over his shoulder. "I'll stop them and you go find the kids!"

"Are you crazy?" his wife screamed.

"Don't you fight!" Alice warned them. "Keep running together and don't turn back, even if I scream very loud" she added more quietly. "I'll only simulate. See you later."

After these words, she pretended to have stumbled and fell to the floor. A split second later, she felt a sharp pain in her right ankle and realized that her playing for time had just turned into playing for her life.

"Congratulations on your brilliant idea, Mrs. Alice Caroline Dinkley" she muttered ironically to herself. "You should have feigned fainting, not an ankle sprain..."

x

Meanwhile, Messrs. Dinkley and Jones searched the ground floor, hiding from the cops.

"It's not good" Gregory whispered. "I'm starting to get really scared for my girls."

"You're starting?" the surprised Skip repeated. "You've already panicked outside."

"Me? Nonsense."

"It's not nonsense. First, you'd told Liz and George about our rescue action yourself and then, you claimed that we'd let Alice go alone. If such a lack of logical thinking isn't a symptom of panic..."

"Okay, I admit, I'm terribly worried about Allie. Happy? But you won't make me believe that you wouldn't be worried for Peggy."

"What are you doing here, guys?" asked a familiar voice. The voice of Sam Rogers. "Greg, I thought you were watching Daphne."

"Don't worry about her; she's under the care of Peggy and Jessie" Mr. Jones cut in. "What's more important, it's finding Alice before this alarmist here gets palpitations."

"Ha-ha-ha" Mr. Dinkley murmured, blushing up to his ears.

"Wait a minute" Mr. Rogers slightly shook his hands and connected his fingertips. "Skip, you had let a WOMAN go alone?"

"Come on, have you two gone insane?" Skip groaned. "She didn't go alone but with the Blakes."

"That's all to the good" Samuel remarked. "Greg, listen to me. I'll bring you Alice but now, you and Skip have to go out. If my boss saw you two here, I'd be in serious trouble."

"I understand but now, YOU listen to me. I promised Maddie I'd return with Allie and Velma so I will; it's a matter of honor" Gregory replied, straightening up like a soldier on guard.

x

"He's gone; we can go out" Mrs. Blake whispered, having peered out of the closet in which she'd hid with her husband upon seeing a policeman.

"Great" the man murmured absently.

"Something bothering you?" his wife stepped back and took his hand.

"To be honest, Lizzie, I'm a bit worried about Alice. We shouldn't have left her alone. If Garver and his bodyguards hunt her down..."

"She'll be fine. She's an adult, and the building is full of police. Come on, sugar, we can't stay here all day."

A few minutes (and two alarms) later, the man and the woman came to a carefully hidden staircase that lead down, most likely to the basement. In the house's best days, it must have been used by the servants because it was narrow, crude and wobbly – though it could have acquired the last feature with age. The basement itself was dark and rather gloomy. The light switch, of course, didn't work because there was no electricity. Therefore, George and Elizabeth instinctively held hands to not get lost – or maybe they just wanted to comfort each other.

Then, there was a sneeze somewhere nearby.

"Who's there?" Mr. Blake shouted threateningly.

The only thing that answered him was a frightened squeak.

"Stop yelling, my dear. It's not a thug but some kids" his wife scolded him. "Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you" she added softly. "Now, quit hiding, we'll take you to your parents."

After hearing this promise, from the dark emerged silhouettes of two children, more or less of the same height.

"And now let's get out of here before Lieutenant Swift or his people notice us" said Mr. Blake, taking one of the children in his arms.

His wife picked up the other child; then, they left the basement and headed for the front door.

"Mr. Blake!"

"And Mrs. Blake!" two thin voices cried out.

Only then the man and the woman looked at the children they were carrying. They were two girls. One of them had long blond curls and light brown eyes, while the other – short dark hair and dark eyes, covered with large, round glasses.

"What are you doing here?" Velma wanted to know.

"Quiet" Mr. Blake put his hand on her mouth. His wife, just to be on the safe side, did the same to Maggie. "We'll explain everything later, okay?"

"Mmm" the girls muttered.

"And you won't ask about anything until we get outside?" Mrs. Blake made sure.

"Nnn!"

"Fine" Mr. Blake stated. "Lizzie, let's go."

Soon, all the four of them were outside. The Blakes sighed with relief, put Velma and Maggie on the ground and hugged Daphne, who'd come running to them, having broken out of the hold of Mrs. Jones. Meanwhile, Maggie ran straight into the arms of her mom, and Velma almost got suffocated by her younger sister.

"Maddie... let go of me..." she moaned. "I... can't... breathe..."

The kid obeyed and looked around.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" she asked after a moment.

"I don't know" Velma replied. "I haven't seen them."

"That's strange" Madelyn remarked. "Dad took Mr. Jones and promised to bring Mom and you, and Mrs. Rogers said that Mom had gone with Daphne's parents..."

"Because she had" said the embarrassed Mr. Blake. "Everything was fine until we ran into three thugs..."

"We also met bandits but Shaggy's mom beat them up, and then we tied them very hard" the smaller girl cut him off.

"But they were five, not three" Fred cut in.

"Never mind" Velma waved her hand to silence them. "What was next, Mr. Blake?"

"We ran, but we had to split up to lose these rogues. Your mom told us to keep running, for she would distract them, and that we would meet later."

"And you agreed to this?" Mrs. Rogers asked disbelievingly.

"We had no choice" Mrs. Blake sighed. "Before we could say anything, she had already begun to act."

"So... so Mom is alone with the bandits?" the scared Madelyn stammered. Velma hugged her without a word.

"I'll go and find her" Mr. Blake decided.

"I forbid you" his wife whispered harshly. "You're the only husband and father who hasn't gone to look for trouble, and let it stay that way. If the others don't come back..."

"I'll be considered a coward who left his friends" the man finished sadly.

"At this point, I don't care. There's a serious risk that two women will be widows, three children will lose their fathers and the Dinkleys' daughters will become orphans. If it does happen, someone will have to take the situation under control, and I certainly can't do it."

x

Meanwhile, Mrs. Dinkley crawled down the hallway, cursing in her mind the moment when she'd gotten her "brilliant" idea, and dragging her right leg behind her. The sprained ankle caused her much pain with the slightest movement but there was no other choice – she had to find a place to hide. Otherwise, there was a risk of her getting caught by the gangsters who certainly didn't have good intentions towards her.

Soon, she reached a room which formerly must have been a master bedroom. There still was a massive, double bed... or rather its lame frame, demolished by woodworms. The woman crawled under the miserable remnants of a once magnificent piece of furniture, noticed oblong, clean marks which she'd left on the dusty floor, and realized with horror that she was trapped.

Shortly after, in the corridor sounded Garver's voice:

"She's in this room! Pull her out of there before the cops find us!"

The door burst open and into the room came two bodyguards of Garver – Chuck and Neil. The woman held her breath but the men found her almost immediately due to the marks on the floor. Then, they grabbed her by the hands and dragged her out into the corridor, where Garver was waiting.

"What are we to do now, boss?" asked one of the heavies.

"Blow up this shack" Garver replied.

"Really?" his other bodyguard asked happily.

"Of course not, you dimwit. She'll be our new argument in negotiations with the Blakes. Tie her up and lock her back in the bedroom."

When the bandits let go of her hands, Mrs. Dinkley began to escape on all fours, bravely holding back the tears that were filling her eyes because of the pain in the injured leg. However, a second later she got caught... by the ankles. At this point, she was no longer able to control herself and yelled in pain so loudly that the criminals had to cover their ears.

"Screw the negotiations. We must silence her" the leader said after a moment, taking out a gun and pointing it at the woman's head. "We can get the big bucks for her corpse, too, right?"

_"This isn't good"_ Alice thought, feeling her heart pounding wildly and instinctively closing her eyes.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" a very familiar voice shouted suddenly. The voice of her husband...

x

While Mrs. Dinkley tried to get away from the bandits, her husband and Messrs. Jones and Rogers came across several officers conducting five tied-up thugs.

"Sam, what are these civilians doing here?" asked the short, black-haired Bob, pointing to Skip and Gregory. "You want the boss to get mad?"

"Never mind him; it's about the safety of a woman."

"If you mean your wife, then you can stop worrying about her. Believe it or not, she'd defeated these five bad apples on her own. Unless she has a twin sister..."

"I confirm, it was her; I was there" Mr. Jones spoke.

"Yes, I know, I taught her that. But it's not about Jessie; it's about HIS wife" Mr. Rogers said softly, discreetly pointing to Mr. Dinkley, who was anxiously pacing up and down the stairs. "Are those the whole gang already?" he asked, looking at the thugs.

"No; the leader and his two heavies are still on the loose."

"Wonderful" Samuel muttered, scratching his neck.

"Skip! Sam! Come here quick!" Mr. Dinkley shouted, leaning over the railing on the first floor.

"Bob, I have a great favor to ask you: get me some reinforcements" said Mr. Rogers, then ran upstairs after Mr. Jones. "What happened?" he asked, when he'd seen the pale face of his trembling friend.

"Look at the marks on the floor" came the answer.

"Seems that something was dragged this way" Skip remarked.

"Or someone" Gregory added softly.

"We'll find her" Samuel promised. "Come on, guys."

After about a minute of fast walking, they heard a shriek. None of them said anything but they all quickened their pace. Soon, they saw three men, leaning over a frightened woman.

"It must be them" Mr. Rogers whispered. "The three gangsters that weren't found."

"You think they're very dangerous?" Mr. Jones asked.

Before Samuel could answer, one of the thugs pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman's head.

"Screw the negotiations. We must silence her" he said. "We can get the big bucks for her corpse, too, right?"

Mrs. Dinkley closed her eyes. On the face of her husband, rage took the place of terror.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" he yelled, running in between her and the man who intended to kill her. Granted, Skip had wanted to stop him but before he could have done it, Sam had immobilized him with a half nelson.

"Darling!" Alice exclaimed, half in joy, half in surprise.

Gregory, however, seemed to not have heard her.

"You want to shoot her?" he shouted, looking straight into the eyes of the bandit. "Then you have to kill me first!"

"Fool" the other man said, smiling cynically, and pulled the trigger.

Moments later, a shot rang out, and Gregory fell to the floor. Upon seeing bright red liquid seeping through his shirt, Alice shrieked; then, ignoring the pain in the sprained ankle, she crawled over to him and began shaking his arm, begging him to give a sign of life. In vain – the man lay motionless.

"Greggy, sweetheart, look at me... tell me you're not dead..." the woman pleaded. She didn't feel anything anymore: neither the pain in her ankle, nor tears flowing down her cheeks, nor that Skip had put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't do this to me... don't leave me, do you hear? GREGORY!" she wailed, then fell down on her husband's chest and burst into tears.

* * *

**To be continued in**** chapter 5**** and last. Feedback a.k.a reviews will be welcome.**

**VM**


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